I've communicated with Charles directly and understand what he needs-- and his frustration.
>> And *COMPLET* mean just that! >> >> 1) Present the message being made of the server, and provide it as a >> text file >These are provided in the API spec. Technically, yes, but that's just for the XCP message itself. Charles is driving at what happens _before_ the XCP is sent, ie the handshaking and preamble messages as per Appendix C. These aren't provided in the API as examples-- however, if you're comfortable with PERL, these can be easily discerned from the API instructions. >> 2) Show all messages used for any interlocks, and provide as a text file > I don't know what you mean by this. I've already addressed this above. >> 3) Provide the packets after encryption as files. Thus I have a an >> incremental baseline from which I can verify my code. > You want a TCP dump of the encrypted data? That is simply absurd. Well, yes it is absurd. But it's not really what he wants. >First, the paranoid among us will think you are going to try and >reverse-hack our encryption keys. Second, if you honestly claim to be >able to understand Blowfish encrypted TCP packets, but can't understand >the OpenSRS API specifications ... well ... I for one don't buy it. You're right, you are paranoid. As per the latter, the API manual is, to be blunt, a work in progress. There are numerous errors and omissions, and if I ever wrote something like that for a client, I'd lose my advance and have to re-write it on my own dime. While not a concern for Charles, I hasten to add that the quality of the PERL scripts also leaves a hell of a lot to be desired. >I'm sending to you, not cc'ing the list, the XML dump of a domain lookup >(generated using the PHP class, but that's irrelevant). That, plus some >reading of the API specs, should be more than enough for you to get >started ... especially if you've been "programming micro compunters >since [you] purchased a >TRS-80 back in 1976". Condescension isn't necessary here-- Charles is just trying to make the point that he's not a complete neophyte. His frustration is one I share about the API documentation-- it is poorly written with spotty examples, and if you're not completely comfortable with PERL, you're SOL. Give the guy a break! All of us have been at the bottom end of a learning curve at one time or another, and will probably continue to be throughout our careers. Chris R Chapman.
